New user - Entering date of birth in the App is exasperating!

[DaveyB56]

Hi!

I did a quick search and didn't find a similar topic, but I didn't read all 400+ pages (sorry!). I hope that this is the appropriate place to post problems and suggestions for the Android App.

I have just receved my brand new Charge 2, downloaded the Android App and set it up.  One of the first questions is "what is your date of birth?" and offers a default of Jan 1st 1991.  Selecting the field doesn't allow text entry, it pops up a "useful" calendar where the only way to change the year is to use the left arrow to change the month.

This may not seem like a big deal to some people, but I was born in 1956 - that's 420 left arrows to get to it!!   Try it some time, after the first couple of hundred you'll wonder why you even bothered to buy this thing, since it doesn't even count as steps!!! (That was a joke!)

Would it be possible to include a "double arrow" left and right to change the year and not the month, then the single arrow to change the month.  Better yet, make it a text entry field with "optional" calendar??

[USAF-Larry]

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@DaveyB56 wrote:

This may not seem like a big deal to some people, but I was born in 1956 - that's 420 left arrows to get to it!!   Try it some time, after the first couple of hundred you'll wonder why you even bothered to buy this thing, since it doesn't even count as steps!!! (That was a joke!)

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The good news, @DaveyB56, is that it is a one-time setup in order for the app to calculate your BMR, etc., and you never have to do it again. I was born well over a decade before you, and I survived entering the date....  

[DaveyB56]

Larry,

Kudos to you for still being around - ya old fart! USAF? I'm ex British Army - at one point I could clock in the free-run portion of the BFT (1.5 miles) in a little over 6 minutes!  Might take a tad longer these days! 😄

Fact remains though, that that part of the app could be better designed and implemented - why alientate a brand new user right out of the box when it isn't necessary?

[Conniedt2143]

I have done the tapping to get the right birthday only to save it and it still doesnt change

[Wynsong8]

I had the same experience!  I didn't realize that Fitbit started right away with an exercise for my index finger. To set one's birthday, a monthly calendar is used starting with January, 1992 (a twenty-five year old....obviously the target market ... why would one think about old people using Fitbits!).  One must tap the left arrow to go back in time one month at a time.  For my birthday in April, 1949, that meant I did 512 taps with my index finger!  When I opened the MAC version, there was a sensible date input.  I would suggest that one add the ability to simply type in the birth date, or have a month/day/year dropdowns, or be able to hold down the left arrow until the calendar moved back to your birthdate.  Yes, this is a small thing but a very exasperating way to start my experience with Fitbit!  Hope it gets better from here on out!  Or maybe just add finger taps to the stats! 

[EdgeDweller]

A year later and the issue still exists!!!

I just purchased a new Charge 2 and installed the app. 

First thing I have to enter my date of birth.

No method to select year, no method to skip years, still have to tap the back arrow several hundred times.

And like another replier to this thread, I did that, on my Samsung S8, selected my DOB, and clicked next, only to have nothing happen.  I could select other days in the month, but clicking next did nothing.  I thought maybe it was because the keyboard was opened so I tried to minimize the keyboard.  Screen went back to start screen with 1/1/1992 selected!

I'm not doing this again.  F* the DOB.  It can think I'm a 20-something year old.

If this is what I can expect from this product, its likely going back in the box and getting shipped back in I estimate about 30 minutes. 

Good job, fitbit!

[EdgeDweller]

Me too.  Arrrrrg!!!

[Wynsong8]

Go to your computer, install Fitbit and set the birthdate there to keep your sanity!Can't believe Fitbit still hasn't fixed this! I am happy with the Charge 2 even with its quirks.  Cheers!  Cathy

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

[frylady]

I had the same problem- And I wasn't going to do it the hard way, not even once! You can create your account online at the fitbit website, where you can type your birthdate, starting with the year. After your account is all set up and verified by email, you can open the app and log in using your newly-created-online password. It'll be the same account that you created on the website. Mind you, the online account is a bit unusual to set up as well, but it was pretty quick.